Super Heavy Haul Costs

Honestly? It’s not out of the realm of possibility, there’s no “requirements” per se but just being lucky sometimes. Just like with truck drivers crane operators (and really any trade) you can look like a loser and actually be good. All had a tower crane operator that was a loser, he might have had 5 teeth in his head and was always dirty but he could make a tower crane dance. It was funny to see the crews face when he showed up. They’ve sent people out to assure them crew he could do it, after he was up there I never knew of a job he was thrown off of and I know for a fact there were times the customer would keep him busy doing other things because they wanted him back in the seat on the next phase. I know a terrific 50 ton operator that’s the biggest leftover 80’s burnout you’d ever meet but he can swing steel like you wouldn’t believe. I’ve seen stranger things.

 

I get it with how someone looks versus their ability to do a job "don't judge a book by its cover".

I have always, now wrongly, assumed that there were some level of progression to get to the operators seat in one of those, kinda like the captain on a 737.

I'm hoping the kid is for real, he's already gone and bought the brand new jacked up Dodge dually diesel, motorcycle etc. So he appears to be making the money he says and I doubt he's making those payments on laborers wages.

 

Well, the OPs situation is somewhat unique from the normal "I want to buy something that I know nothing about and get rich" posts. Where his freight is likely much of the same thing coming from the same place he probably can get the equipment and personnel to do that much easier than trying to have something that specialized not knowing what or where the next haul is going to be.

 

It’s a gamble, I’m not particularly experienced but I run a small crane all the time. I could absolutely be in a bigger crane in a no time if I desired, I had the chance to go that way but I don’t enjoy it. Laborers make pretty good jack around here, at the end of the year a lot of them outearn opereators, they tend to get to work more than a lot of operators.

 

That’s my point, he didn’t come in here asking what we make and a bunch of other stupid questions. He seems to have a grasp on reality but we get the usual “A” game only the men in black can do this crap. I know full well in construction the way a lot of companies grow into different specialties is to head hunt people proficient in that field. Building a bridge is just as dangerous and potentially disastrous as moving a big load if not more so but companies branch out into that work all the time.

 

Well, I know he's a member of some operators union, works down in Seattle and claims to be making good money.

I have no skin in the game, just was listening to what the ex was saying about him and thinking it took more than a few months at some school to become an operator.

Her son is doing the whole apprenticeship thing to get his commercial journeyman plumbers license and that's a minimum 4 year deal in Washington. His boss told him on his first day, this is all you ever need to know, drains slope at 1/2" per foot, don't pick your nose after working on sewer lines and payday is Friday.

 

Around here in the trades you can go through an apprenticeship or you can go in on a permit. I’m a journeyman and I didn’t go through the apprenticeship.

 

@Juno123 ......
This has been a great thread. One question for the OP...how much of that super heavy stuff are you looking at and for how long?
Will the haul last long enough to recover your investment?

 

Actually that is not what I am talking about. A dual lane is when the axles hydraulically expand to be wider to get more weight on the bridges. I am not talking about an expandable deck trailer. And I am not talking about a platform trailer where you can add "lines". And about the Cozad I am not talking about a little 47ton expando with a trunnion that expands from 102" wide to 10' wide. I was talking about a 110ton steerable dual lane. Look on you tube and type in "A Dual Lane Heavy Haul Trailer". The title of the video says Cozad trailers. The guy who owns the trailer is Shawn P.
And the Schuerle and Goldhofer platform trailers you are talking about are not as permit friendly.

 

I know what a dual lane trailer is and it’s still a 19 axle. Here’s what a dual lane is, a Trail King and a Diamond.




As far as the modular trailers more and more states are recognizing them.